Video:

Meet the challenges involved in migrating to the cloud

Cloud computing is changing the Java landscape. The changes cloud computing is bringing are
largely evolutionary, rather than revolutionary. As enterprise organizations begin migrating
to the cloud, it makes sense to start with simple standalone projects and progress forward with
more application integration to the cloud as the organizations' comfort and competency with cloud
models increase.

Your professor for today's lesson in the Java University Cloud Classroom will be Shlomo Swidler,
who has been at the forefront of cloud computing from the get-go. Swidler is the founder of
Orchestratus, where he still works as a trainer and senior consultant. He is also among the top
contributors to the EC2 development forums. His technical blog is a well-regarded
source of tips and advice on cloud best practices.

Swidler discusses cloud design and patterns for application
migration to the cloud. One question he answers is about why, in a very general sense, does it
make sense to move into the cloud. He begins this discussion with an examination of the developers'
motivation to create software. Assuming that the endgame is to deliver value, Swidler concludes
that developers should be delivering ongoing continuous service to the customers. The developer's
job isn't finished when the application is deployed, he says, and continues until the customer has
consumed the value of the developer's ideas.

From here, Swidler goes on to explain the metrics involved in managing a
successful development team and delivering value to customers. Using measurable factors in the
development cycle, he presents a model for providing reliably successful application development
projects. Swidler shows us how migrating into the cloud can have a positive effect on many of those
measurable factors.

Swidler will also present an explanation of how to choose between Platform as
a Service (PaaS), Infrastructure
as a Service (IaaS) and custom hardware. The decision depends on the complexity of the
deployment and how much low-level control developers will need to implement that application. The
video contains a diagram that shows a snapshot of the current state of the industry and where
various projects would likely fall on the spectrum from simple PaaS to complex custom hardware.

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